First, which kind of rain Hsinchu gets.
When the northeast monsoon arrives, rain comes in sideways and opening an umbrella is the same as not opening one — October through the following March is that kind of weather. The plum rains of May and June are the other kind: fine, close, all day long. Both do the same thing to a night out: hopping between venues on foot stops dead.
So the logic of a wet night runs backwards. Pick a roof first, then see what sits under it. East District has three roofs big enough.
Roof one: Big City, the whole night in one building
Big City Shopping Mall sits at No. 229 Zhongyang Road, open until 10pm, car park straight into the lifts, no rain at any point. The problem is that too many people have the same idea: the car park queues on weekend afternoons, and restaurants are full from seven to nine at dinner.
Weeknights run much smoother. Mita CAFE Bistro-新竹巨城店 in B1 carries 1,700-plus reviews and plenty of seats; when the crowd builds, conversation gets buried, so anyone wanting quiet should skip Friday and Saturday. After dinner, stay in the building — a film or karaoke carries you through to the ten o’clock close.
Out of Big City and not wanting to go far, two wind-downs sit on the same side of Zhongyang Road: 飛絲縵健康美學SPA館 at No. 267, 4.9 stars across 280 reviews, and 新竹悠活美學女子spa-巨城店 at No. 302, a perfect five across 260-plus, mostly women, by appointment. The walk is two or three minutes; an umbrella holds.
Roof two: Jingguo Road Section 1, three kinds of indoor on one street
The point of this line is no street change. Jingguo Road Section 1 from No. 375 to No. 552 is about a kilometre, and all three kinds of night-time indoor sit on the same side.
凱悅KTV新竹店 at No. 375 has 5,100-plus reviews, the largest room system in East District. Once you are in, you do not come out for hours — eating, drinking and singing in one go; Friday and Saturday slots from eight to eleven need booking, and walk-in waits often pass half an hour.
Heading north, Tender Cocktail Bar on the second floor of No. 542, 4.9 stars and 2,100-plus reviews, is the most-reviewed cocktail bar in Hsinchu. East District cocktails run NT$350–500 a glass and this one sits at the upper edge. Second-floor seating is limited; before eight on a weeknight is the safer entry.
Another fifty metres on, 泉谷足湯養生會館 at No. 552, 1,200-plus reviews, foot baths with massage, open late. Cocktail first, then walk over and soak — that is the sensible order for this line on a wet night.
Rides are normally easy on this road; rain is the exception. Between ten and eleven the Big City crowd and the after-work wave overlap and waits stretch past fifteen minutes.
Roof three: the Guanxin ring, where Science Park people never enter town
Driving from the Park into town in the rain, Guangfu Road traffic turns fifteen minutes into thirty. The ring of Guanxin Road, Guanxin West Street and Guanxin 2nd Street is five to ten minutes by car from the Park.
ABV Bar & Kitchen 日式居酒館 新竹關新店 at No. 173 Guanxin Road, 4.8 stars and 2,400-plus reviews, is a straight run from the office; 丰丰燒日式居酒屋 at No. 155 Guanxin West Street has 廢材串燒酒場 Skewers & Beer 關新店-新竹串燒 next door at No. 159, both above 2,000 reviews, skewers with beer. 肆食居酒屋izakaya at No. 135 Guanxin 2nd Street, 4.9 stars and 250-plus reviews, is smaller and easy for four or fewer. Izakaya here run NT$600–900 a head, bistros NT$800–1,500.
Fed and not drinking, 芮薇荷夢幻森林spa 新竹店 at No. 131 Guanxin 2nd Street, 260-plus reviews, sits two doors from Sishi, by appointment, easier to book on a weeknight.
The weakness: venues here are still one to three hundred metres apart, and in heavy rain you will get wet. Pick one and stay. Do not switch.
Three things that stop dead in the rain
Hopping Dongmen Street. That street’s whole value is walking between bars; in the rain the lanes flood, umbrellas will not open, and the yield halves. Leave Dongmen Street for a dry night.
Tsinghua Night Market and the City God Temple. The stalls have no roof, vendors pack up early when it pours, and after nine there is nothing to gamble on.
A sobering walk along the moat park. In the rain the moat is lights and nobody. Swap the walk for a foot bath.
Transport, and one wet-night rule
TRA Hsinchu Station is at No. 445 Zhonghua Road Section 2, last train around midnight, and anyone returning to Zhubei should check times; the Hsinchu Bus Interchange sits next to the station with denser intercity departures than the railway. City buses run late in the rain — after nine, do not rely on them.
The wet-night rule: if you drink, cab or designated driver, arranged before you leave rather than after the last glass. Rides are harder to get in the rain, tighter still after ten.
Full lists for all three lines: East District bistros and bars, massage and spa, KTV — save the phone numbers before you head out. The whole East District on one page; the dry-night version of what follows Big City’s close is in the post-mall route.